CHEVRON, HORNETS TO DEDICATE MATH AND SCIENCERESOURCE CENTER AT FOUNTAINEBLEAU HIGH SCHOOL

Hornets forward Jason Smith will help celebrate new facility

September 24, 2012

The New Orleans Hornets and Chevron will dedicate a new Math and Science Resource Center at Fountainebleau High School (100 Bulldog Drive, Mandeville, La.), on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 10:00 a.m.

Hornets forward Jason Smith will be there to help dedicate the resource center and spend time enjoying the new equipment and teaching tools to which students will have access.

“Our partnership with Chevron has always allowed us to make an impact in the community and we appreciate all they do for the students in the Greater New Orleans area,” said Owner Tom Benson. “We also partner with Chevron on the Mathmobile, as well as the Mathletes and MVP Programs, and have had the chance to reach thousands of kids of all grade-levels and teach them math skills and the importance of math in their future. This is an initiative that directly impacts students where it counts...in the classroom and that is important.”

The room will be used for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in hopes to engage students, parents, teachers, and community-based organizations with hands-on activities, role models, and information about career opportunities. The Chevron Resource Center will feature new laptops and an interactive whiteboard, a large interactive display that connects to computers and projectors. The whiteboard is a surface onto which a computer screen can be displayed by a projector. It’s touch-sensitive and allows teachers to use a pen to act like a mouse. Everything that can be displayed on a computer can be projected onto the whiteboard, including using multimedia resources for lessons.

“We are so excited to introduce the resource center to the students at Fontainebleau,” said Vice President of Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit, Warner Williams. “The students will have the opportunity to utilize technology in order to improve their math skills, including a brand new interactive whiteboard, which will provide a fun and engaging environment in which to learn.”

Last year, the Hornets and Chevron launched the Mathmobile, the interactive motor coach bus with the objective of demonstrating the importance of math by connecting math to basketball. The Mathmobile features a number of iPads with built in applications that focus on targeted math skills such as: general addition and subtraction, division, fractions, geometry, algebra, and other related math subjects.

Chevron, one of the Hornets’ five Crescent City Champion-level partners, also partners with the Hornets on the Most Valuable Pupil program, which provides students in the Recovery School District and Orleans Parish Public Schools (grades 5th-8th) with incentives to encourage them to excel academically. Also presented by Chevron, the Hornets Mathletes program provides students in St. Tammany Parish with incentives to excel academically in the Math curriculum.